The Case of the Missing Servant: From the Files of Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator (Vish Puri Mysteries) (Paperback)

July 2009 Indie Next List

“Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator, is part Hercule Poirot and part Precious Ramotswe -- with a nod to Sherlock Holmes, deploying his team of undercover operatives in Delhi with shrewd skill. He's an old-fashioned, principled man, not afraid of modern technology as it changes the face of India. Irresistible, this quirky story should appeal to readers of every stripe, mystery and non.”
— Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen, Scottsdale, AZ

Description

The first in a detective series that "immediately joins the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency as representing the best in international cozies" (Booklist, starred review).

In hot and dusty Delhi, where call centers and malls are changing the ancient fabric of Indian life, Puri's main work comes from screening prospective marriage partners, a job once the preserve of aunties and family priests. But when an honest public litigator is accused of murdering his maidservant, it takes all of Puri's resources to investigate. With his team of undercover operatives--Tubelight, Flush, and Facecream--Puri combines modern techniques with principles of detection established in India more than two thousand years ago, and reveals modern India in all its seething complexity.

Praise For…

"Vish Puri is the most original detective in years. Tarquin Hall has captured India in a way few Western writers have managed since Kipling. The country's humor, commotion, and vibrancy bursts from every page, exposing its vast, labyrinthine underbelly. Scintillating!" -- Tahir Shah, author of The Caliph's House

"Tubby, ingenious and hilarious, Delhi's most trusted PI, Vish Puri, is not easily forgotten. Properly disdainful of unoriginal crime-busters like Sherlock Holmes and James Bond, his unique methods of detection deserve to be widely known and feted." -- David Davidar, author of The Solitude of Emperors